JPH0761576A - Article distributing conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To preform distribution of articles to a plurality of conveyance systems without stopping conveyance of the articles. CONSTITUTION:An article distributing device comprises a main rope conveyor 86 extending separately away from a horizontal rope conveyor 76; a branch rope conveyor 87 extending from the terminal end of the horizontal rope conveyor 76 to a position below the main rope conveyor 86; and a distributing device 18 arranged between the horizontal rope conveyor 76 and the main rope conveyor 86. The distributing device 18 has a connection rope conveyor 110 to interconned the horizontal rope conveyor 76 and the main rope conveyor 86. One endless rope of the connection rope conveyor 110 is connected to and disconnected from the other endless rope with the aid of an air cylinder 128.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article distributing and conveying apparatus for distributing and conveying articles from a one-line upstream side conveying system to a plurality of downstream side conveying systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some articles are boxed by stacking these articles in a plurality of stages. Such an article boxing system includes a number of filling devices according to the number of steps of articles,
Each of the filling devices is provided with a conveying line for articles connected to each other, and these filling devices fill the boxes with the articles supplied from the conveying lines when the boxes are sequentially sent. ing.

By the way, when the supply amount of the article from the supply source of the article is larger than the throughput of the article in each filling device, it is between the supply line of the article extending from the supply source and the conveying line on the side of each filling device. A distribution device is disposed in the distribution device, and the distribution device distributes and supplies the articles conveyed on the supply line to the respective conveyance lines.

[0004]

Conventionally, in the above-mentioned sorting device, each transport line is sequentially switched to and connected to the supply line, whereby the articles on the supply line are sorted to each transport line. It is necessary to stop the transportation of articles on the supply line side during the switching connection of each transportation line, and the sorting processing capability is low.

Further, since the sorting capacity is low, in order to stably secure a predetermined number of articles in each conveyance line, it is necessary to immediately increase the restart speed of the supply line, which imposes a burden on the supply line side. There are increasing defects. The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to enable continuous distribution of articles without stopping the conveyance of the articles on the supply line side, and to improve the distribution processing capability. An object of the present invention is to provide an article sorting and conveying apparatus which can be greatly improved.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An article distributing and conveying apparatus according to the present invention comprises an upstream conveyor for conveying articles and a first downstream conveyor for conveying articles extending a predetermined distance from the end of the upstream conveyor. And a second downstream conveyor that extends below the first downstream conveyor from the end of the upstream conveyor to convey the article, and a distribution unit that distributes the article reaching the end of the upstream conveyor to one of the first and second downstream conveyors. This sorting means extends from the end of the upstream conveyor to the start of the first downstream conveyor, holds the article conveyed from the upstream conveyor from both sides, and along with its travel,
A pair of endless running members for delivering the article to the first downstream conveyor, one endless running member is relatively contacted to and separated from the other endless running member, and one endless running member is the other endless running member. When separated from the traveling member, it comprises a separating means for dropping the article conveyed from the upstream conveyor and delivering it to the second downstream conveyor.

[0007] Preferably, each endless running member comprises an endless rope wound around a pair of pulleys,
The distributing means includes first and second toothed pulleys respectively attached to pulley shafts extending from one pulley on the endless rope side, and toothed drive pulleys arranged at the same level as these toothed pulleys. And a drive belt having both teeth with which the first and second toothed pulleys are rotated around from the drive pulley to rotate the first and second toothed pulleys in opposite directions. The drive pulley is arranged on an extension of a line connecting the shaft centers of the first and second toothed pulleys.

The separating means includes a first detection sensor for detecting an article reaching the end of the upstream conveyor and a second detection sensor for detecting an article reaching the start of the first downstream conveyor.
A controller that controls the contact / separation timing of one endless traveling member so that the number of articles distributed to the first and second downstream conveyors is equalized based on the signals from the first and second detection sensors. ing.

[0009]

According to the above-described article distributing and conveying apparatus, the articles conveyed on the upstream conveyor are distributed to the first or second downstream conveyor according to the contact / separation state of the pair of endless traveling members. That is, one endless traveling member is located on the other endless traveling member side, and the pair of endless traveling members constitutes a connection conveyor that connects the upstream conveyor and the first downstream conveyor. In this case, the article conveyed from the upstream conveyor is sandwiched between a pair of endless traveling members, and conveyed along with the traveling of these endless traveling members, and delivered to the first downstream conveyor. On the other hand, when one endless running member is located away from the other endless running member, the pair of endless running members does not form a connecting conveyor, and the article being conveyed from the upstream conveyor is from its end. It falls and is received by the second downstream conveyor.

The endless traveling member is composed of endless ropes, and the traveling of these ropes is performed by the toothed drive belt as described above, and the pair of toothed pulleys on the rope side and the drive pulley are on the same line. When placed in
The tension of the drive belt does not change when one rope comes into contact with or separates from the other rope. Further, when the controller controls the contact / separation timing of one of the endless traveling members based on the sensor signals from the first and second detection sensors, the distribution amount of the articles to the first and second downstream conveyors becomes equal.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a cone-shaped ice cream cartoning system is schematically shown. This cartoning system is roughly divided into an aligning conveyor section 2, a distributing conveyor section 4, a relay conveyor section 6 and It consists of a filling section 8.

The alignment conveyor section 2 is provided with a pair of vibrating chute feeders 10, and the upper ends of the chute feeders 10 are connected to a belt conveyor 12, respectively. The lower end of each chute feeder 10 is connected to the first rope conveyor 14, respectively.
A rope conveyor 14 is connected to the distribution conveyor section 4.

The distribution conveyor section 4 is provided with a pair of downstream rope conveyors 16 which are vertically separated for each of the first rope conveyors 14, respectively. The distribution devices 18 are arranged between them. Therefore, as apparent from the above description, the distribution conveyor section 4 has a total of four lines of the second rope conveyors 16, which are connected to the relay conveyor section 6, respectively.

The relay conveyor section 6 is a climb conveyor corresponding to each second rope conveyor 16 of the sorting conveyor section 4, that is, a total of four lines of the climb conveyors 22 and extending downward from each of the climb conveyors 22 to fill the filling section. 8 has a pool conveyor 24 connected to it. The filling section 8 is a cone feeding device 2 provided at the end of each pool conveyor 24.
6 and a total of four filling heads 28 forming a pair with each cone feeding device 26, and a head driving device 30 for operating these filling heads 28. In FIG. 1, the filling head 28 is simply indicated by an arrow.

The cone-shaped ice cream obtained in the previous step (hereinafter, simply referred to as a cone unless otherwise required) is supplied to the belt conveyors 12, and the belt conveyors 12 cause the alignment conveyor section 2 to move.
Be transported to. Here, as is clear from FIG. 1, the cone C on each belt conveyor 12 is conveyed in an irregular lying position.

Cone C on these belt conveyors 12
Are respectively fed to the corresponding chute feeders 10 of the alignment conveyor section 2 and are supplied to the first rope conveyor 14 via these chute feeders 10. When the cone C slides down the chute feeder 10, the posture of the cone C becomes vertical, and thereafter, the cone C sequentially transfers from the lower end of the chute feeder 10 to the corresponding first rope conveyor 14. At this time, each cone C
1 are aligned in a standing position with their tips facing downward, as shown in FIG. 1, so that the cones C are thereafter moved in line by maintaining the standing position by the traveling of the first rope conveyor 14. And is conveyed toward the sorting section 4.

The sorting section 4, that is, the cone C that has reached the end of each first rope conveyor 14, is used as a sorting device 1.
According to the switching state of No. 8, the second rope conveyor 16 of the pair of upper and lower second rope conveyors 16 is transferred to one of the second rope conveyors 16 to be sorted, and then the second rope conveyor 16 is conveyed while traveling while maintaining its standing posture. To be done. Therefore, the flow of the cones C conveyed in one row by each first rope conveyor 14 is thereafter branched into two streams by the pair of second rope conveyors 16.

The cone C reaching the end of the second rope conveyor 16 transfers to the corresponding climb conveyor 22 of the relay conveyor section 6, and these climb conveyors 2
2. The climb conveyors 2 are conveyed while rising by 2
Transfer from 2 to the corresponding pool conveyor 24. These pool conveyors 24 convey the received cone C toward the filling section 8 while lowering it.

Cone feeding device 2 of filling section 8
6 is 5 cones C from the pool conveyor 24
Are collectively supplied to the corresponding filling heads 28, and each filling head 28 receives and holds five cones C. After this,
Each filling head 28 is swung by the head driving device 30 to change the posture of the five received cones C from the standing posture to the horizontal posture as shown in FIG. Here, the adjacent filling heads 28 are swung in opposite directions, and as a result, the five cones C of the adjacent filling heads 28 have their horizontal postures opposite to each other.

After this, each filling head 28 descends toward the box B located below it and releases the holding of the five cones C. Therefore, the five cones C are collectively filled in the box B from each filling head 28. Here, on the transfer line BL, the intermittent transfer of the box B is performed in association with the cone filling operation of the above-described filling head 28, and one box B corresponds to each filling head 28 as shown in FIG. It can be positioned immediately below. Therefore, one cone B is filled with five cones C from each filling head 28, stacked, and finally a total of 20 cones C are packed. Further, as is clear from FIG. 2, the cones C at each stage have the same orientation, but the cones C vertically adjacent to each other have opposite orientations.

After that, the box B packed with 20 cones C is supplied to a lid closing device (not shown) through the transfer line BL, and this lid closing device closes the lid of the box B and adheres the lid. It is sealed with tape. 3 to 5, the sorting conveyor section 4
Is described in detail, and the distribution conveyor section 4 will be described in detail below.

As is apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4, the distribution conveyor section 4 is provided with horizontal rope conveyors 74 and 76 which sequentially extend from the end of the first rope conveyor 14, and these rope conveyors constitute an upstream conveyor. ing. The first rope conveyor 14 is configured by vertically winding a pair of endless ropes 56 between pulleys 60, while the horizontal rope conveyors 74 and 76 include a pair of endless ropes 78 between pulleys 80 and 82. It is laid horizontally.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, the first rope conveyor 14 and the horizontal rope conveyors 74, 76 sandwich the cone C between the ropes in a standing posture, and the traveling of the pair of ropes causes the cone C to move. Can be transported. That is, the cone C discharged from the chute feeder 10 is transferred by transferring to the rope conveyors 14, 74, 76.

A driving force is applied to the driving pulleys 80 of the horizontal rope conveyors 74 and 76, and the pair of ropes 78 travel at a predetermined traveling speed. A main rope conveyor 86 that is horizontally spaced from the end of the upstream rope conveyor 76 by a predetermined distance and extends at the same level as the horizontal rope conveyor 76, and a branch rope conveyor 87 that extends below the main rope conveyor 86. And the rope conveyors 86 and 87 are the first
And a second downstream conveyor, respectively.

The branch rope conveyor 87 is a first branch rope conveyor 88 extending diagonally downward from just below the end of the horizontal rope conveyor 76 to beyond the start end of the main rope conveyor 86.
And a second branch rope conveyor 89 extending obliquely upward from just below the end of the first branch rope conveyor 88. As is apparent from FIG. 4, the second branch rope conveyor 89 is laterally offset with respect to the main rope conveyor 86.

Since the main rope conveyor 86 and the first and second branch rope conveyors 88 and 89 have the same structure as the above-mentioned horizontal rope conveyors 74 and 76, the members having the same function are also used here. With the same reference numerals,
The description is omitted. As is clear from FIG. 4, the main rope conveyor 86 forms a conveyance path located coaxially with the conveyance path of the horizontal rope conveyor 76.

The above-mentioned distribution device 18 is arranged above the horizontal rope conveyor 76 and the main rope conveyor 86, and the details of the distribution device 18 are shown in FIG. The distribution device 18 is provided with a fixed plate 92 connected to the main frame 90 side of the boxing system, and the fixed plate 92 is used for the horizontal rope conveyor 7.
6 extends from above 6 to above the main rope conveyor 86.

A movable plate 94 is arranged on the side of the fixed plate 92, and the movable plate 94 is supported so as to be movable in a direction in which the fixed plate 92 comes in and out of contact with the fixed plate 92. The fixed plate 92 includes a pair of pulley shafts 98.
Are rotatably supported, and these pulley shafts 98 extend below the fixed plate 92. Pulleys 100 are attached to the lower ends of the pulley shafts 98, and the endless rope 1 is provided between the pulleys 100.
02 is hung around.

On the other hand, the movable plate 94 also rotatably supports a pair of pulley shafts 104, and these pulley shafts 104 extend downwardly of the movable plate 94. Pulleys 106 are attached to the lower ends of the pulley shafts 104, respectively, and an endless rope 108 is wound around the pulleys 106. As is clear from FIG. 3, the rope 102 on the fixed plate 92 side and the rope 108 on the movable plate 94 side are connected to each other by a connection rope conveyor 110 that enables connection between the horizontal rope conveyor 76 and the main rope conveyor 86 described above. I am configuring.

Of the pulley shafts 98 and 104 of the fixed plate 92 and the movable plate 94, the horizontal rope conveyor 76
One of the pulley shafts 98 and 104 located on the side projects upward from the fixed plate 92 and the movable plate 94, and toothed pulleys 112 and 114 are attached to the projecting ends thereof, respectively. A pulley shaft 116 is rotatably supported on the fixed plate 92 between the pair of pulley shafts 98. The pulley shaft 116 projects upward from the fixed plate 92, and a toothed pulley 118 is also attached to the projecting end thereof.

On the other hand, an electric motor 122 is attached to the main frame 90 via a bracket 120, and a drive pulley 124 with teeth is attached to the output shaft of the electric motor 122. An endless toothed belt 126 is wound around the drive pulley 124 and the toothed pulleys 114, 112, 118 described above.
26 has teeth on both sides. In this case,
The toothed pulley 118 applies a predetermined tension to the toothed belt 126.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the drive pulley 124 is arranged on an extension of a line L connecting the centers of the toothed pulleys 114 and 112. Electric motor 1
When 22 is driven, rotation of the drive pulley 124 causes the toothed belt 126 to travel in the direction of arrow D in FIG.
Therefore, the toothed pulleys 114 and 112 are rotated in the opposite directions at the same rotation speed.

Here, the traveling speeds of the horizontal rope conveyor 76, the connecting rope conveyor 110, the main rope conveyor 86, the first branch rope conveyor 88 and the second branch rope conveyor 89 are respectively V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7. Then, these relationships are set as follows. V4>V5> V3 V5 = V6 = V7 As is clear from the above equation, the traveling speed V4 of the connecting rope conveyor 110 is higher than the traveling speed V3 of the horizontal rope conveyor 88 and the traveling speed V5 of the main rope conveyor 86 before and after the connection rope conveyor 110. The high speed allows the cone C to pass the connecting rope conveyor 110 quickly.

An air cylinder 128 is arranged on the side of the movable plate 94 as viewed in the traveling direction of the connecting rope conveyor 110, and the air cylinder 128 is fixed to the main frame 90 side. Air cylinder 128
Is connected to the movable plate 94, and the air cylinder 128 is connected to the movable plate 94.
It has a pair of guide rods 132 for guiding the movement of the.

Piston rod 13 of air cylinder 128
0 expands and contracts in the direction of arrow H in FIG. 5, that is, in the moving direction of the movable plate 94, whereby the connecting rope conveyor 110
The rope 108 on the movable plate 94 side can be brought into contact with and separated from the rope 102 on the fixed plate 92 side. In the case of this embodiment, with respect to the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 130 of the air cylinder 128, that is, the contacting / separating operation of the movable plate 94, the rope 108 on the movable plate 94 side is closer to the rope 102 side than the speed at which the rope 108 on the fixed plate side separates from the fixed plate side rope 102. The speed of returning to is set to be faster.

The air cylinder 128 is connected to the controller 134 via a solenoid valve (not shown). Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a photoelectric tube type sensor 135 as a first inspection sensor is arranged at the end of the horizontal rope conveyor 76 described above, that is, at the entrance side of the connection rope conveyor 110. There is. This photoelectric tube type sensor 1
Reference numeral 35 includes a light projector 136 and a light receiver 137 which are arranged to face each other with the horizontal rope conveyor 76 interposed therebetween, and the light receiver 137 is electrically connected to the controller 134.

Further, a photoelectric tube type sensor 140 as a second detection sensor is also arranged at the starting end of the main rope conveyor 86, and the photoelectric tube type sensor 140 also faces the main rope conveyor 86 while sandwiching the conveying path of the main rope conveyor 86. And a light receiver 142. The light receiver 142 is electrically connected to the controller 134. Therefore, the photoelectric tube type sensor 135 outputs an ON / OFF signal indicating the passage of the cone C to the controller 134 each time the cone C passes the end of the horizontal rope conveyor 76,
Further, the photoelectric tube sensor 140 outputs an ON / OFF signal indicating the passage of the cone C to the controller 134 every time the cone C passes the starting end of the main rope conveyor 86.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned distribution conveyor section 4 will be described. First, the movable plate 94 of the connecting rope conveyor 110 is moving to the fixed plate 92 side, and at this time, the connecting rope conveyor 110.
Is connected to the upstream horizontal rope conveyor 76 and the downstream main rope conveyor 86, that is, in a closed state.

In this case, the cone C conveyed from the horizontal rope conveyor 76 side is the cone CL shown in FIG.
As is clear from the above, it is delivered to the main rope conveyor 86 via the connection rope conveyor 110, and thereafter, it is conveyed as the main rope conveyor 86 travels. In such a state, the horizontal rope conveyor 76
When a predetermined number of cones C passing through the end portion of No. 1 reaches the predetermined number, the controller 134 causes the air cylinder 128 to contract based on the on / off signal from the phototube sensor 135. As a result, in the connection rope conveyor 110, the movable plate 94, that is, the rope 1 on the side of the movable plate 94.
08 is moved in a direction away from the rope 102 on the fixed plate 92 side, and the rope 108 is moved from the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line to the position indicated by the solid line as shown in FIG. 7. That is, the connection rope conveyor 110 is switched from the closed state to the open state.

When the connecting rope conveyor 110 is in the open state, the connecting rope conveyor 110 can no longer receive and convey the cone C conveyed from the horizontal rope conveyor 76. The cone C carried out from the terminal end of the vehicle falls by its own weight, and as shown by the cone CL in FIGS. 3 and 7, the branch rope conveyor 87, that is, the first branch rope conveyor 8
8 and then transfer from the first branch rope conveyor 88 to the second branch rope conveyor 89 and conveyed.

In this state, when the number of cones C passing through the end portion of the horizontal rope conveyor 76 reaches a predetermined number, the controller 134 causes the photoelectric tube type sensor 13 to operate.
Based on the on / off signal from 5, the air cylinder 128 is extended to quickly close the connecting rope conveyor 110. After that, the connecting rope conveyor 110 transfers the cone C from the horizontal rope conveyor 76 to the main rope conveyor 86 as described above. Hand over.

Therefore, the cone C conveyed from the horizontal rope conveyor 76 is opened / closed by the sorting device 18, that is, the connection rope conveyor 110, so that the main rope conveyor 8 is opened.
6 or the branch rope conveyor 87. The distribution of the cones C described above is performed without stopping the conveyance of the cones C on the side of the horizontal rope conveyor 76, so that the distribution ability is significantly improved. Further, the continuous flow of the cone C on the side of the horizontal rope conveyor 76 is the main rope conveyor 86 and the branch rope conveyor 88.
These rope conveyors 86 branch smoothly and upwardly.
It is also possible to obtain a continuous flow of cone C on 88.

The cone C on the main rope conveyor 86 and the branch rope conveyor 88 is transferred to the climb conveyor 22 and conveyed as described above. In the case of this embodiment, since the photoelectric tube type sensor 140 is also arranged at the starting end of the main rope conveyor 86, the controller 13
4 counts the number of cones C flowing into the main rope conveyor 86 based on the ON / OFF signal from the photoelectric tube type sensor 140, and based on this counting result, the connecting rope conveyor 1
The opening / closing timing of 10 can be varied, and as a result, the cones C flowing into the main rope conveyor 86 and the branch rope conveyor 88 are evenly distributed.

That is, when the connecting rope conveyor 110 is in the closed state, the controller 134 controls the number of cones C that have flowed in based on the ON / OFF signal from the phototube sensor 135 and the cone C based on the ON / OFF signal from the phototube sensor 140. When the number of outflows and the number of outflows do not match, the number of cones C supplied to the main rope conveyor 86 and the branch rope conveyor 87 is made uniform so that the next time the connecting rope conveyor 110 is operated. Correct the opening / closing timing.

Further, in the case of this embodiment, the pair of ropes 102, 108 of the connecting rope conveyor 110 are driven by a common drive system, so that the configuration of the drive system can be simplified. Moreover, the toothed belt 1 of the drive system
Drive pulleys 124, 114, 112 around which 26 is wound
6 are arranged on the same line as is apparent from FIG. 6, even if the connection rope conveyor 110 is opened and closed, that is, the toothed pulley 1 on the movable plate 94 side thereof.
Even if 14 repeatedly moves toward and away from the toothed pulley 112 on the fixed plate 92 side, the tension of the toothed belt 126 does not change, and the durability of the toothed belt 126 can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, the present invention is not limited to cone-shaped ice cream, but can be applied to any article as long as it can be carried by being sandwiched between endless traveling members such as ropes and belts.

[0047]

As described above, according to the article distributing and conveying apparatus of the present invention, the articles are distributed from the upstream conveyor to the first and second downstream conveyors without stopping the conveyance of the articles by the upstream conveyor. It is possible to significantly improve the sorting ability. Further, when the pair of endless traveling members are ropes, the toothed pulleys that drive the ropes and the drive pulleys are arranged on the same line, so that even if one rope approaches or separates from the other, The tension of the drive belt wound around these pulleys does not change, and the contact and separation timing of one rope is controlled based on the signals from the first and second detection sensors. There is an advantage that the distribution amount of the articles to the first and second downstream conveyors can be made uniform.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a packaging system for ice cream.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing intermittent transportation of boxes on a transportation line.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a connection region between an alignment conveyor section and a distribution conveyor section.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the connection region.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a distribution device arranged in the connection area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the toothed belt of the sorting device is wound.

FIG. 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view showing a connection rope conveyor of the distribution device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 74,76 Horizontal rope conveyor (upstream conveyor) 86 Main rope conveyor (first downstream conveyor) 87 Branch rope conveyor (second downstream conveyor) 18 Sorting device (sorting means) 102,108 Rope 110 Connection rope conveyor 112,114 With teeth Pulley 124 Drive pulley 126 Toothed belt (drive belt) 128 Air cylinder 134 Controller 135, 140 Phototube sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yukinori Aizawa 50 Imaiue-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Factory of Tokyo Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masao Kataoka 1-17-7 Yokogawa, Sumida-ku, Tokyo Japan Tobacco Sangyo Co., Ltd. Tokyo Factory (72) Inventor Etsuo Shimomura 1-17-7 Yokogawa, Sumida-ku, Tokyo Japan Tobacco Inc. Tokyo Plant

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An upstream conveyor that conveys an article, a first downstream conveyor that extends a predetermined distance from the end of the upstream conveyor and conveys an article, and a first conveyor below the end of the upstream conveyor and below the first downstream conveyor. The second downstream conveyor that extends and conveys the article and the article that reaches the end of the upstream conveyor
And a distribution unit that distributes to one of the second downstream conveyors, wherein the distribution unit extends from the end of the upstream conveyor to the beginning of the first downstream conveyor, and holds the article conveyed from the upstream conveyor from both sides, With the traveling, the first item
When a pair of endless traveling members to be passed to the downstream conveyor and one endless traveling member are brought into contact with or separated from the other endless traveling member, and one endless traveling member is separated from the other endless traveling member. And a separating means for dropping the article being conveyed from the upstream conveyor and delivering the article to the second downstream conveyor. 2. Each of the endless running members comprises an endless rope wound around a pair of pulleys, and the distributing means is attached to a pulley shaft extending from one pulley of each endless rope. First and second
A toothed pulley, a toothed drive pulley arranged at the same level as these toothed pulleys, and a first toothed pulley and a second toothed pulley that are wound around the toothed pulley and these first and second toothed pulleys. Both sides for rotating the toothed pulley in the opposite direction are provided with a drive belt having teeth, and the drive pulley is arranged on an extension of a line connecting the shaft centers of the first and second toothed pulleys. The article sorting and conveying apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The separating means includes a first detection sensor for detecting an article reaching the end of the upstream conveyor, and a second detection sensor for detecting an article reaching the start of the first downstream conveyor.
A controller that controls the contact / separation timing of one endless traveling member so that the number of articles distributed to the first and second downstream conveyors is equalized based on the signals from the first and second detection sensors. The article sorting and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein